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Ever since 19th century city commissioners laid a grid on the hilly island of Manhattan, New York City has been squeezing skyward. That’s meant natural light has always been in short supply—for some New Yorkers more than others. Access to sunshine was one of the main drivers of the first zoning laws, as a new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, Mastering the Metropolis, explores. — citylab.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Crowded skies: Sunlight as the new amenity for the super richWelcome to the permanent dusk: Sunlight in cities is an endangered speciesTwilight Zoning: What 100 years of zoning hath wrought, ft. special guest Mitch McEwen on Archinect Sessions #77Obama calls... View full entry
In ways big and small, architects like Mr. Berman have changed New York City this year. Projects like the library branch made it a little more livable and humane.
What follows is nothing nearly as disciplined or logical as a list of 2016’s architectural highs and lows in town. It’s more a kind of belated thank you note for a few projects that kept faith with architecture’s ideals and the city’s better self.
— nytimes.com
Kimmelman's NYC-best-of-16 roundup includes DS+R/Gensler's Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center, Via 57 West by Bjarke Ingels & team, and the Renzo Piano-designed Jerome L. Greene Science Center, among others.In the mood for more year-end reflections? Don't miss our ongoing series Archinect... View full entry
Take a breather at an exhibition or a panel discussion during the holiday frenzy. For anyone curious about what local happenings to fit into your weekly schedules, Archinect and Bustler have compiled a snappy list of events in New York City that are worth checking out.Check back regularly so... View full entry
Construction on the Hudson Yards supertall set to replace the McDonalds at the corner of 34th Street and Tenth Avenue will begin sometime next year...Standing 985-feet tall, the building will divided into three distinct sections stacked one atop the other...The design team has also planned what it’s calling a “halo” to be located atop the building...The interiors are comprised of column-free floors that span at least 50,000 square-feet, and each floor can accommodate at least 500 people. — ny.curbed.com
More about the Hudson Yards development on Archinect:Construction begins on Diller Scofidio + Renfro and the Rockwell Group's “shape-shifting“ arts center in ManhattanBIG-designed "The Spiral" Hudson Yards tower is inching closer to becoming realityRenderings of Thomas Heatherwick's "Vessel"... View full entry
One good thing to come of the substitution of a hospital serving the whole downtown community with homogenous housing for the wealthy is St. Vincent’s Triangle Park, [...] home to the nearly completed New York City AIDS Memorial [...]
Real estate plays an outsize role in most New York stories. In the story of AIDS, it has become crucial to understanding both the way that the city handled, or mishandled, the crisis in its early days and the way that the crisis forever marked the city in return.
— New Yorker
To mark the opening of the new New York City AIDS Memorial designed by Studio ai, Alexandra Schwartz reflects on the complicated relationship between the epidemic, the gay activist community, and real estate."The disease started charting its course through the city just as the bearish real-estate... View full entry
The Midtown building formerly known as Citicorp Center has just been designated a city landmark. ... The 59-story office and retail tower, designed by Hugh A. Stubbins & Associates, was completed in 1978 [and] was considered quite innovative for its time, with distinctive features that included a 45-degree angular roof and a base of four stilt-like columns. The latter allowed it to cantilever over Saint Peter’s Church, also on the site. — 6sqft
Take a breather at an exhibition or a panel discussion as the holiday frenzy begins. As always, New York City is abuzz with creative folks expanding the possibilities of how architectural design and practice can be reinterpreted, bringing attention to what in the urban environment is constantly... View full entry
Take a breather at an exhibition or a panel discussion as the holiday frenzy begins. As always, New York City is abuzz with creative folks expanding the possibilities of how architectural design and practice can be reinterpreted, bringing attention to what in the urban environment is constantly... View full entry
A majority of the windows at One World Trade Center haven’t been washed since 2015, because the system used to suspend the washers isn’t safe, a representative for the Durst Organization told The Real Deal. Typically, a boom at the top of the building lowers a window-washing rig that moves horizontally as the boom moves along a track on the roof. But in early 2016, Durst noticed that welding in the track — where pieces of metal are joined together — was riddled with cracks. — The Real Deal
The track, built in 2013, also has undersized bolts and suffers from other design flaws, said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesperson for Durst.Related:Port Authority plans to sell One World Trade Center for up to $5BTallest Lego model in the U.S. unveiled: One World Trade Center in all its pixely might... View full entry
The Intercept has published a fascinating, and eerie, investigation into the iconic Brutalist tower at 33 Thomas Street in Manhattan. Built to withstand a nuclear bomb, the modern fortress has no windows. At night, the building is a dark shadow blocking the illuminated towers around it.But... View full entry
After four years of delayed construction, financial missteps, and lawsuits, Forest City Ratner and Greenland U.S.A. are finally welcoming tenants into 461 Dean Street, currently the tallest high-rise in the world constructed with modular units. The 32-story tower on the edge of Prospect Heights and Park Slope offers sweeping views of brownstone Brooklyn, but its lengthy construction saga highlights the issues developers face when they build with modular construction in New York City. — newyorkyimby.com
The groundbreaking (but not trouble-free) development previously in the Archinect news:Work finally resumes at Brooklyn's modular prefab towerContinued Delays For Housing at Atlantic YardsLego High-Rise: World's Tallest Modular Apartment Tower Getting Snapped Together In BrooklynModular... View full entry
The curvy, twisted glass facade of media mogul Barry Diller’s IAC Building on West 18th Street and 11th Avenue is facing a sticky problem: The window sealant has become a dripping, opaque blob, according to a lawsuit.
“Nearly all of the windows have significant and visible defects,” the building’s owners claim in the suit against Permasteelisa North America, the company that installed the unique facade of the building designed by the acclaimed architect.
— nypost.com
More Gehry-news on Archinect:Frank Gehry and Maya Lin to receive Presidential Medal of FreedomFrank Gehry might bail on the U.S. now that Trump's been electedFrank Gehry's Sunset Strip mixed-user unanimously approved by L.A. City CouncilGehry's modified Eisenhower Memorial design accepted by... View full entry
Take a breather at an exhibition or a panel discussion as the holiday frenzy begins. As always, New York City is abuzz with creative folks expanding the possibilities of how architectural design and practice can be reinterpreted, bringing attention to what in the urban environment is constantly... View full entry
Every summer, the winning design of MoMA's PS1 Young Architects Program helps set the mood for the museum's Warm Up music festivities, providing shade, seating, water and atmosphere. Installed in the museum's outdoor courtyard, the YAP-winning design must also address issues related to the... View full entry
As always, New York City is abuzz with creative folks expanding the possibilities of how architectural design and practice can be reinterpreted, bringing attention to what in the urban environment is constantly overlooked. For anyone curious about what local happenings to fit into your weekly... View full entry
